Inglourious Basterds: She-Wolfe
by Ella.R25
Summary: "You killed a hundred Nazi's single handedly?" "What? You don't believe a woman would be capable?" "Sister, I'm havin' trouble believin' a person would be capable."
1. Chapter 1

**1941. Somewhere in Nazi occupied France.**

Hannah Wolfe stopped at the edge of the large forest and stared up at it, she sighed in relief. After two brutal weeks, she was almost there, almost home. She remembered the little town fondly and the short number of years she had spent there with her Mother. Back then there had been lots of hiding and dodging soldiers, but, even though the place would still be crawling with them, she was confident this time would be different. She was older, wiser with a brand new identity, she wasn't a naive teenage girl, her experience of war had taught her two cold hard truths; be prepared to do anything to survive and that no one in this world can be trusted. She'd learnt to act, learnt to be manipulative, she'd gone over and over her fake story so that it was engraved into her memory, she was Hannah Wolfe now.

Still surveying the forest, she took her hat off and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Her long blond hair fell around her shoulders and she scowled at it, pulling a few strands through her fingers she strained her eyes to look at her roots. Her naturally raven black hair was already beginning to show, with a huff she scooped her hair up and replaced the hat.

She finally entered through the trees and began the long trek to her destination. She strolled through almost carelessly, picking at flowers and casually taking in her surroundings. She'd been walking for about an hour when she heard faint voices and it forced her to stop dead in her tracks. Her eyes darted around and she crouched, pulling the rifle from her back to hold under her chin, poised to shoot as she slowly crept towards the voices. Her new identity wouldn't mean shit in the middle of a forest, it wasn't exactly commonplace for young women to go exploring alone in Europe's current situation.

Her eyes widened when she spotted two men through the trees, she carefully made her way to them using the foliage for cover. She came to a stop behind a large tree and pressed her back to it.

"Well, Werner, that's where you're wrong. Because that's exactly what I expect. I need to know about Germans hiding in trees, and you need to tell me, and you need to tell me right now. Now, take your finger and point out on this map, where this party's been held, how many's comin' and what they brought to play with."

American soldiers. Followed by the unmistakable sound of a Nazi about to die for his beloved country. She scoffed at his refusal, shaking her head but suddenly jumped when she heard a loud noise repeatedly echoing through the tunnel behind her. She turned her head to look around the tree and narrowed her eyes. There were more soldiers than she originally thought, she heard them laughing and cheering as the sound became louder. She pushed back from the tree and turned around, pressing her chest against it instead and poking her head from behind it to get a better view. Her eyes grew wide, her heart picking up pace from the suspense. Finally, a man emerged from the tunnel to a raucous applause.

He was a huge man, muscular, strong and scary looking. And so blatantly Jewish. He was wearing a filthy wife beater tucked into his pants which were held in place by braces, several dog tags hung from his neck and he clutched a baseball bat, swinging it from side to side. The bat alone told her all she needed to know, this was the Bear Jew, which meant she was currently witnessing the Basterds doing what they did best.

The rest of the men grew silent though obviously unfazed as they watched him approach the Nazi, she watched with intent as he lifted his bat to the soldier's lapel.

"You get that for killin' Jews?"

"Bravery." She heard the German respond and her gaze darkened. She so wanted this bastard to get it. Hannah watched closely as the Bear Jew nodded, his expression taking a similar tone to hers, and he lifted his bat to rest at the soldiers' temple before he swung once and the Nazi fell to the ground.

She never flinched as the American continued to bring the club down to his head over and over, grounding his skull into a bloody pulp on the forest floor. She laughed silently as the men celebrated their latest killing, but her smile soon faded when she felt the barrel of a gun poke into the small of her back before hearing the inevitable click. She jumped as a shot rang out and her eyes went back to the soldiers about to interrogate the last remaining Nazi, none of them had noticed her. Her fingers twitched and slowly edged to the knife in her belt, the gun moved to her hand.

"Behruhren sie es und ich shiebe ihre hand weg." **Touch it and I will shoot your hand off.**

Her breath hitched in the back of her throat, he was German. She paused and dropped her hand back to her side, the gun returned to her back.

"Heben sie ihre hande, langsam an." **Lift up your hands, slowly.**

He spoke calmly and quietly, she shakily lifted her hands to rest on her head and was pushed forward by the prodding in her back. "Bewegen!" He demanded she move, nudging the barrel into her body, he walked closely behind, his pushing leading her into the group of American Soldiers.

"Lieutenant, found another one hiding in the bushes." The German spoke in perfect English.

She was greeted by agonized screams when she entered the circle of Soldiers, she looked at the Nazi rolling around on the ground clutching his bloody forehead and she gulped. The Lieutenant, she assumed, stood after completing his 'work' and turned to look at her. She could feel every set of eyes on her as he walked towards her with a grin, he leaned into her face, examining her closely before he took a step back. His eyes raked over her while he addressed the man who had found her.

"She speak English?"

The Bear Jew stood from his kneeling position by the swastika scarred soldier and walked over to them, his bloody bat resting on his shoulder. "Who gives a fuck? She's one of them."

The Lieutenant scratched the back of his neck, thankfully he seemed uncertain, and she knew she should speak but couldn't find any way to begin. These were Nazi hating American Jewish soldiers and here she was; armed to the teeth, with a German passport and wearing an SS uniform. Even on the slim chance they did give her half a minute to explain, she didn't know them, she only knew what they were capable of. They were men after all, men on a dangerous mission in the middle of nowhere, they had probably been deprived of female interaction for months; she had no idea how they'd react to a lone woman been in their company. In between the screaming soldier and the eyes surveying her she couldn't think straight. The Lieutenant, it seemed, was having the same problem.

"Jesus, Shut up!" He yelled at the German. "Wicki, would you get him outta here." He rubbed his face in irritation.

The man behind her moved and grabbed the soldier by the arm, he yanked him up to lead him away, helped by a couple of his comrades. She watched as the Lieutenant and the Bear Jew turned their heads away for a second to watch them and she quickly grabbed her handgun to press it to the leader's temple. His soldiers' guns automatically pointed in her direction. She grabbed him by the shoulder and moved herself behind his body, still holding the gun at his head.

"Lady, you got balls made of pure brass, doin' this." He said, watching her best he could through his peripheral.

She took another gun from her belt and pressed it to the bottom of his spine. The Lieutenant raised his arms slightly in surprise at the second weapon. "Goddamn, woman. Where are ya hidin' those things?"

"Shut up." She spat out, smirking at the shocked faces her English had gained. "That's right I can speak English, morons. I have listened to you, now you are all going to listen to me. Otherwise your Lieutenant here joins your German friends...now, lower your weapons."

She waited a moment. When no one complied, she shoved the gun harder into the side of his head.

"Come on, now. You ain't gonna shoot me." He grinned. Hannah swiftly removed the gun from his head and shot to the side, causing one of his soldiers to drop to the floor screaming in agony, then the gun was back to his temple.

"You cannot afford to be that naive, Lieutenant." She remarked over the injured soldiers' angry curse words, standing on her tip toes she leaned in closer to his ear. "We are in the middle of a war, everyone is doing what they can to survive. Tell your men to stand down." She waited and clicked the safety off when he, again, didn't do as she said.

"Alright, alright. We're listenin' to ya, lower 'em boys."

She watched as the men hesitantly lowered their rifles before clicking the safety back on. She shifted to face him and held one gun between his eyes, the other to his abdomen and backed him up to a tree, giving her a good view of all his men behind it.

"You alright there, Hirschberg?" The Lieutenant shouted over his shoulder and was satisfied with the expletives he received as a reply. "Yeah he'll be fine." He stated to himself then turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. His eyes scanned over her determined face and he smirked, half amused and kind of impressed with her. "Y'know, seein' as you want me to listen, ya think you could lower yours? Kinda hard to concentrate with a gun between my eyes and another in my gut."

"I don't think so." She scoffed. "I have about seven men watching me like hawks and holding machine guns. I am sure you can cope."

Her eyes flicked between his men and then back to him, she took a deep breath. "Now, I have kind of put the pieces together and I assume you're the Basterds?" She paused and he nodded. "Which makes you Aldo the Apache."

"How do you know so much about us?" She turned her eyes to the Bear Jew when he spoke and she addressed him.

"Because I haven't been living under a rock, every German has heard of Aldo the Apache and The Bear Jew."

"So you are a Nazi?" The Bear Jews's hands tightened around his gun as he questioned her.

She held her guns in place, paying particular attention to Aldo's movements but began to address the whole troupe, her eyes darting between their faces.

"I can see why you might think that but no, I am not a Nazi. I am half German, half French, my name is Hannah Wolfe...and that is about all I can tell you."

"Well that's just great." Aldo commented with sarcasm. "We supposed to just take your word for it?"

Hannah looked to Aldo blankly, trying to think of an answer to his question. "I suppose you're going to have to." She shrugged.

"Y'know we can't do that." He replied simply. "You ain't dumb lady, you know what the situation is here. Ain't no way we can just let you waltz off not knowin' who you are."

She studied his face for a moment, weighing his words up in her mind. Eventually, she sighed and pointed her gun to the sky letting it rest on her shoulder. She bowed her head and threw it to the side, letting the other pistol fall from her hand. The soldiers raised their weapons but Aldo signaled them down with a wave of his hand. He watched her carefully as she folded her arms across her chest and dragged her feet across the ground to a nearby rock, she flopped onto it and sighed. The soldiers all looked to each other, unsure of what to do next. A silence fell between them all, only the sound of a couple of them helping 'Hirschberg' with his wounded leg.

"I am Jewish." She admitted suddenly. They all one by one fell slightly at ease upon hearing this and moved closer to her. Aldo pushed himself off the tree and walked over, he bent down to kneel in front of her, craning his neck to meet her eyes.

"Jewish?" He asked and she nodded.

The Bear Jew suddenly laughed and she looked up at him, her brow furrowed as she watched him shake his head in disbelief.

"Yeah right, and I'm the fucking King of England."

"Shut up, Donny." Aldo sighed.

"You believe this shit?" Donny looked horrified. "She's obviously just tryin' to get out of this so we don't shoot her Nazi ass."

Hannah's eyes turned cold as she looked at Donny, she held his gaze as she removed her hat and threw it to the ground, causing her long, wavy hair to fall around her face. She removed her jacket and let it fall to join her hat, then undid the top two buttons of her shirt. She stood and stalked over to him, still staring daggers. She stopped close in front of him and pointed at the roots of her hair.

"Not blond, jet black. And my eyes are brown, not blue." She pulled a chain from under her blouse and held the charm up to his face. "How many Nazi's do you know that wear the Star of David around their neck?"

His expression didn't change, apart from a little confusion. She crossed her arms as she watched him think before he grinned again. "So what? Every German has blond hair? And any idiot can get a Star of David, I mean, there's a lot of dead Jews, wouldn't be hard. That chain could be like a decoy or whatever for situations like this." She let out a sigh of exasperation and turned away from him to run a hand through her hair.

The soldier who had found her approached and held out his hand. "Wilhelm Wiki." He introduced and she looked at him warily, she sighed again before shaking his hand.

"Ich muss mich fur feldwebel Donowitz entschuldigen, er ist fur unseren auftrag betroffen." **I must apologize for Seargent Donowitz, he is concerned for our mission.**

"Hey, I heard my name. What the fuck are you tellin' her?"Wicki ignored him.

"Wir mussen sicher sein, wer sie sind, bevor wir damit sie verslassen, konnen unsere stellung nicht beeintrachtigt werden. Vielleicht, wenn wir ihre identifikation sahen?" **We have to be sure who you are before we allow you to leave, our position cannot be compromised. Maybe if we saw your ID?**

She gulped, it sounded so loud in her ears she was almost certain the soldiers heard it too. Her palms began to sweat and she looked at him nervously, refusing to hand over her papers would look even more suspicious, she didn't want to be compromised either. She didn't want anyone to know her secret, but it was looking more and more likely she would have to tell them everything. She looked around at the soldiers who were watching the interaction, Hugo had translated and now they were all waiting.

"Meine papier sind falsch." **My papers are false**. She all but whispered the words as she handed her identification over, knowing it wouldn't satisfy them.

Aldo sighed and rested his hands on the crown of his head. "Well, ain't this just precious?"

Wiki handed her papers back over and she slipped them into her trouser pocket, she looked helplessly at the men as they sighed and rubbed their faces. She knew they couldn't kill her in case she was telling the truth but they couldn't let her leave in case she was lying. It was one hell of a catch 22. She fidgeted with her hands before moving to roll her right sleeve up around her elbow. She averted her eyes as she held her forearm to Wiki's face, he gently took hold of her wrist and his eyes darkened. He moved them to her face, suddenly a mixture of shock, anger and respect replacing the indifference and suspicion from earlier.

"What is it Wiki?"

Wiki blanked his Lieutenant and carried on staring at Hannah.

"Betrachten sie mich." **Look at me.** He ordered calmly, she turned her head slowly and bit her lower lip, willing away the tears which were threatening to escape.

"Ist dieses...?" **Is this...?**

She nodded sadly, a few tears spilling over her cheeks. Hugo had stopped translating, well aware of what this meant and in severe shock. The American's just looked curiously at each other.

"Right." Donny started, beginning to get frustrated with the whole thing. "We can all speak English so why don't we just...do that. What the fuck are you talking about? Why's he looking at your fucking arm?"

Donny strode over to Hannah as Wiki dropped her wrist, Donny grabbed hold of it roughly, attempting to pull it to his eyes but Hannah struggled, pushing him back and trying to pull away from his grasp. She pulled her free arm back and punched him hard in the nose, the surprise of it made him topple to the ground and he groaned when he noticed the blood. He held his gun up from his position on the ground and aimed at her retreating back, all except Hugo, Wiki and Aldo followed suit.

"Jew my ass." He muttered as he squinted over the gun.

Wiki quickly moved to block his aim and Donny's brow creased, he lowered his weapon and looked at him.

"Let her go, she is no threat."


	2. Chapter 2

Hannah fell back against a tree, breathing unsteadily and clutching her chest, trying to regain some composure. She attempted a deep controlled breath but the sobs that had been steadily building escaped when she exhaled, she put her hand over her mouth and cried hoarsely into her palm. She let her back slide down the tree until her bottom hit the ground and she pulled her knees up, wiping at her tears as quick as they fell. Taking her necklace in her hand, she rubbed the charm with her thumb, staring at it with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Miss Wolfe," She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the tree at the sound of Aldo's voice. "We got your guns 'ere. Your fancy lookin' hat and jacket too." She turned her head to the side, listening to the rustling of dry leaves and twigs snapping under their feet. "We ain't gonna hurt you sister, just wanna talk is all. No more guns, no shooting or...punching each other in the nose."

She stifled a laugh at this, they seemed like good men. She understood their suspicion, she even understood Donny's brutish behavior; he was just a pissed off soldier trying to do right by his people and she had been a potential threat, if the roles were reversed she probably would act the same. She understood all of it, but that didn't mean she liked it and it certainly didn't mean she trusted them. She'd hoped when she started her new life less than two weeks ago, that no one would ever know what she'd been forced to endure, that she would never have to relive it again by telling her story. The first thing she was told when acquiring her new papers was that there was one golden rule; never talk about your past to anyone. A fortnight later and she'd already broken it, the whole idea was for her to be completely anonymous. She'd make up her own history to the people that asked for it and the rest of the time she would fade into the background, content to lead a boringly normal life until it was safe to be herself, given that day would ever come. It should have been comfortable, knowing that no one knew anything about her to contradict her story, but now there were ten men that knew of her heritage and the most brutal part of her past, they would want to know more.

She sighed as she felt the impact of the footsteps on the ground and opened her eyes to look up at the man who was looming over her. He just stared down at her smiling, the other soldiers passed him and set their belongings on the floor.

"There y'are." Aldo held his hand down to her and she took it, rising back onto her feet with ease as he pulled her up. He steadied her when she stumbled slightly, then let go of her fingers. He placed his hands on his hips and scanned the area, she just watched him blankly.

"Good little campin' spot you picked out here, this'll do nicely." He looked at her and she frowned.

"Can you not just let me go?" She asked tiredly, a pleading hint to her voice.

"Sister, we ain't keepin' you hostage, you are free to walk out of here whenever you want. But it is goin' to be dark soon, it's gettin' all kinds of cold an' by the time you make it to the nearest town you'll already be way past curfew. Seems to me you have two options; One, you can stroll out of here in your SS uniform into a town riddled with Nazi's, who will no doubt be intrigued by a purdy little blond showin' up-"

"-Your accent is exhausting to understand." She interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He replied hurriedly. "Option two; stay under our guard for one night, we got food, some mats that almost feel like beds and I'm sure Hirschberg's got some clothes that'll fit you." He joked loudly, ignoring Hirshberg's 'fuck you' as he looked at her dubious expression, and he waved his finger towards his soldiers as he continued. "Not one of these men will harm you, I promise you that. And I'm a man of my word."

Her eyes landed on Donny, he was sat with his back against a tree, dabbing at his bloody nose with a rag.

"Does that apply to the maniac with the baseball bat?"

Aldo scratched the back of his neck and looked to the ground, "Yeah, sorry 'bout that but yeah it does. That maniac is my right hand, best damn soldier in this unit. Hell, best goddamn soldier I ever met. He just don't trust easy is all, not with all these Nazi's fuckin' about anyhow." He looked genuine, and she flashed him a quick smile, the first since she'd met him. Blowing out a deep breath, she looked around, the soldiers were all starting to set up camp, not one of them had bothered to speak to herself or Aldo. These had obviously been his orders prior to him finding her.

"Okay...I'll stay."

Aldo clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "I was hopin' you'd come round, right, first things first. You need to meet the boys." He placed a hand on her back, urging her forward and he whistled sharply causing Hannah to grimace and the men to stop their tasks and look at them.

"Alright now, listen up! Our new Jewish friend is gonna be stayin' with us tonight so y'all need to be on your best behaviour. By now y'all know her name, this here is Hannah Wolfe." He looked back at her and leaned in to her, pointing out the men as he said their names. "Don't expect ya to remember all these right away but I'll give you a quick run through. The unlucky bastard you shot there, that's Private Hirschberg. Either side we got Andy Kagan and Michael Zimmerman. Over here is Smithson Ultivich and Omar Ulmer, about to start cookin' up our supper if they know what's good for 'em. The scary lookin' fucker sharpenin' his blade, that's Seargent Hugo Stiglitz...I'm guessin' you been German an' all you've heard of him. You've met Corporal Wilhelm Wiki and I'm guessin' Seargent Donny Donowitz made enough of an impression for you to remember his name." She looked at them all one by one as he introduced them to her, each sending her hand gestures of acknowledgment or saying hi, then going back to whatever they were doing before. "Oh, and I'm Lieutenant Aldo Raine...pleased to meet ya." He extended his hand out to her and she laughed slightly at the huge grin on his face as she shook hands with him.

"Right, now we all know each other." He started, talking to the whole group. "Let's get this camp set up before we can't see shit. Ultivich and Omar; you're on food and fire, Kagan and Zimmerman; you two set up the beds. Hirschberg...you just try not to die on me okay and I'll patch up your leg. Donny, find some clothes for Hannah here then join Hugo and Wiki to get some wood." Aldo nodded once to Hannah and then walked over to Hirschberg, bending down to examine his leg.

Hannah dragged her feet sulkily to Donny, who by now, had ripped his rag in two and had shoved a piece of the cloth up each nostril. She waited as he searched through various bags, her arms folded like a petulant teenager. He threw a brown flat cap and a pair of dungarees of matching color to the side, he moved to another bag and pulled out a pair of black army boots and a white shirt. Hannah looked down at the assortment of clothes and raised an eyebrow.

"What is this, French civilian-military chic?"

"Not mine, Hirschberg's. He's about your size." She pursed her lips, trying to hold back a smile when Hirschberg threw a well-aimed rock at Donny's head. She picked up the clothes and walked to change behind a nearby tree. She threw the various items of her SS uniform to the floor, picking up the shirt and pulling it on over her head, she yanked up the dungarees and clipped them into place. They were way too long, covering almost all of her feet and she stepped into the boots to tuck the bottoms in to. Finally, she ruffled her hair free and placed the cap on her head. She emerged from behind the tree, back to the soldiers and held out the pile of Nazi clothes to Ultivich, who looked back at her with confusion.

"A little something to begin your fire." He smirked in return. She left her weapons belt with him but kept her rifle, swinging the strap over her shoulder as she walked over to Donny, Hugo and Wiki. She jutted her bottom lip out when they looked at her.

"Ich fühle mich wie ich sollte mit einer Heugabel und kaut auf einem Stück Stroh" **I feel like I should be holding a pitchfork and chewing on a piece of straw.** She joked and Wiki chuckled, even Hugo cracked a smile, Donny just rolled his eyes as she strode past him.

"Okay, this'll get done a lot quicker if we split up. But don't go far, Okay? You two cover over there, me and Hannah will carry on forward." She heard Donny from behind her. She carried on strolling through, looking up at the night sky through the tree branches and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing at her shoulders. Donny's hurried footsteps slowed as he caught up to walk beside her, she heard fidgeting and jumped when she felt his heavy leather jacket fall onto her shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

"I can be a gent, ya know. You looked cold." He grinned at her but she just looked at him blankly before crouching down to gather some wood, he stood idly watching her.

"Okay, look." He started with a sigh. "I'm no good at this stuff so I'm just gonna say it…I'm sorry. For pushing you and grabbing your arm like that."

She stood up, some wood tucked underneath her arm.

"But been cautious? And not wanting you anywhere near us? Now that, I won't apologize for. I'm not gonna lie, I want you to leave. You seem real nice and everything, in a different life we could probably be friends. But here, in this war? I don't see people no more, I see distractions and you're a big one."

Hannah scoffed, shaking her head. "Even in war, Sergeant, there is still room for humanity. In fact, there is more of a need for it, we neglect it, refuse to help the people that need it and we are no better than the people we are fighting against." She paused, allowing her words to sink in. "But regardless, this 'distraction' will be not be any concern of yours after tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

Hannah looked around at the circle of men, huddled around the fire, as they all ate their dinner in silence, she looked down at her own untouched food.

"I know Smithson and Omar aren't master chefs but you should eat somethin'." She looked up at Aldo who was staring back at her, chewing on his own food.

"I…um, don't have the healthiest of appetites any more…sorry." She gave Omar and Utivich an apologetic smile before setting her tray down on the ground by her feet.

Aldo carried on staring at her and she fidgeted under his gaze, his eyes narrowed and Hannah couldn't help but feel like he was trying to work her out. When she finally decided to look back at him, he was wiping his greasy hands on his thighs then resting his elbows on his knees to lean closer to her.

"I hate to put you on the spot like this but seems there's a hefty elephant in this here camp site. So far, we've respected you might not wanna talk about it but we're all mighty curious and someone's gotta ask." She gulped and continued to look at him, waiting for the inevitable question. "How'd you do it?"

Any sounds the men were making with their own food stopped abruptly and the camp fell silent, every one of them staring at her expectantly, anticipating her answer. She shifted uncomfortably on the log where she sat, looking down at her hands.

"Met a lot of characters while we've been on this mission." Aldo continued. "Germans hidin' Jews, Nazi soldiers helping our people from the inside, hell, we even met a Jewish singer who was courtin' a Nazi general just to get some information. Like you said earlier, everyone is doin' what they can to survive, we just wanna know what you did because, of all these people I've met, not one of 'em has surprised me like you have. Escapin' one of those places? It's unheard of."

There was a few more moments of silence, the camp still staring at her, Hannah staring at Aldo before she cleared her throat.

"I was there for three weeks before I noticed one of the German Soldiers was taken with me. He was kind to me and my Mother, he used to sneak me food, and sometimes he would just sit and talk with me. I played along for weeks, I convinced him I felt the same and on one occasion, I asked him to meet me alone. He did and I killed him. I took his uniform and his weapons and…escaped."

"Awfully vague, how'd you kill 'im?"

"I slit his throat."

"And how'd you do that? With your bare hands?"

She tilted her head to one side and gave him a frustrated look. "No. I talked to him, fluttered my eyelashes, made him think I wanted him there for one very specific reason and believe me, it is extremely difficult to seduce someone when you look and smell like shit. But it was enough for him to drop his guard and that gave me a chance to steal his knife, then I slit his throat."

"How'd you get past all the other Nazi's?"

"Sheer hope and confidence. I dodged all the Soldiers I could and acted like I belonged to the ones I had to pass. I found a way out underground through the boiler room."

"What about the ones out on patrol? You must've bumped into some on your travels."

"I killed them."

"How many you kill?"

Hannah sighed. "I was not on some planned mission, Lieutenant, I was just trying to live. I did not keep count of the people I killed, it was not something I planned on but it was necessary."

"Roughly?"

"Near a hundred maybe, I am not sure."

The soldiers, who had been watching herself and Aldo's exchange gasped in shock, Aldo just looked at her with wide eyes.

"You killed a hundred Nazi's single handedly?"

"What? You don't believe a woman would be capable?"

"Sister, I'm havin' trouble believin' a person would be capable."

"A person is capable of anything when they have been through what I have. I've experienced first-hand how the Nazi's treat our people and I probably despise them a lot more than every single one of you. I would kill a hundred more if it was a choice between their lives or mine."

"Your life really that valuable?"

She looked from Aldo, who by this point had been smiling approvingly, staring back at her with something akin to admiration. Many of the others had also respectfully stayed silent throughout her story, listening intently but her gaze landed on Donny. He sat with his back pressed against a log, his leg bent at the knee, smoking a cigarette with a less than impressed look on his face.

There was a beat of silence.

"Excuse me?"

"Donny-" Aldo started warningly but Hannah lifted a hand to stop him.

"Its fine." She gave him a smile and turned her attention back to the Bear Jew, who stubbed out his cigarette on the ground with an amused smirk and crossed his legs.

"You said if it was between their lives and yours, you would kill more." She furrowed her brow and nodded, willing him to elaborate. "Don't get me wrong, I hate those Nazi fucks but I'm not killin' 'em because I wanna survive, I'm killin' 'em because I want the Jewish race to survive. That, and I'm a god-damn soldier, It's kinda my job. What I'm tryin' to say is...what makes you so special? What have you got to live for thats so important, you're happy havin' the blood of a hundred men on your hands?"

His words hit a sore spot, and it wasn't a question she could answer without compromising herself. She tried hard not to cave and tried even harder not to cry. Aldo cleared his throat and she looked around the circle of men, they were all looking at her expectantly, every single one of them wanted her answer. Which meant, even if they hadn't know before Donny opened his mouth, deep down, they had all wondered the very same thing.

Her frown became deeper as realisation hit her. Even though these men had been kind, even though they'd regarded her with awe and respect upon hearing her story, they didn't trust her and they probably never would. But it wasn't this fact that hurt so much, if within four short hours of knowing her they did deem her trustworthy she would think them pretty dire soldiers. But for half a minute while telling them a shortened story of her escape she'd foolishly believed they had wanted nothing more but to hear it, however, Donny's blunt question had thrown that thought into turmoil.

They were currently living through a war and war meant segregation, though that didn't just apply to the Jewish. Women were objectified by men, men were unreliable in the eyes of women, elder's despaired at what had happened to the world and the younger generation were growing up bitter and angry. The entire Jewish race was been hunted down by the Nazi's, the Nazi's were been hunted down by whoever got the chance and Germans were getting caught in the crossfire, either been accused of been Nazi's by the Jewish or traitors by the Nazi's. Everyone was judged, everyone was labelled, no one had an identity any more, everything depended on race and religion and her heart ached as she realised she had never thought about this sad state of affairs in as much detail, she felt like she should have.

The fact was that the soldiers hearing her tale hadn't been enough. Donny had asked for a motive and it was that which had stung. Everyone sat around that fire was Jewish. She, along with them, despised Hitler, she was on their side yet the Sergeant's one question had proved that, despite everything, they were still suspicious. She had given them solid proof of what she was, the serial number on her wrist were only awarded to the Jews who'd suffered one of the many concentration camps, but in the end it hadn't changed anything.

Everyone had something to hide, they believed her to be no exception and she never for one minute imagined that the Jewish people would also be divided amongst themselves.

Hannah sniffed and pulled herself from her depressing thoughts, she put any emotion she felt on the back-burner and her eyes glazed over.

"I will keep look out tonight." Hannah declared, discarding Donny's question. "You should all rest."

* * *

Aldo groaned as the harsh sunlight ripped him from his, in his opinion, well deserved slumber. He squinted against it. holding an arm to his forehead to shield his face as he yawned. Placing down his hands to sit up, his forehead creased when his palms were met with dirt and rocks instead of his spongy mat and he straightened with a jolt. He was sandwiched between a huge log and the fire, which was still smouldering by his side and had no recollection of been in any position to fall asleep.

He shrugged and laid back down, trusting his men to alert him if any one passed by. Aldo's eyes had just fluttered to a close when they popped back open.

The girl.

He jumped to his feet this time, scanning the camp for any sign of the small blond woman. She had gone.

It didn't surprise him, his mind wandered back to the night before and the look on her face when Donny had asked his question. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts for a matter of minutes, Aldo had observed her closely in that time. Her face had been scrunched up almost painfully, like she was having an internal battle with herself and then, right before she had wandered from the group, she'd looked at them with resignation. All emotion had left her features and Aldo would have felt bad for her if he had room to care, but he didn't.

"Donowitz" Aldo called, rolling his eyes at the dark haired Sergeant's sleepy murmurs. "Seems our Jewish princess had it away on 'er toes last night."

He placed his hands on his hips, rotating his body to make sure his men were all present and safe given they had been without a look-out for God knows how long. He stretched his arms above his head and rolled the kinks out of his neck as his soldiers, one by one, stirred from their sleep. Hirschberg groaned the loudest as fresh pain thrummed in his wounded limb and he sat up slowly, his eyes darting around in a daze, he could have sworn he fell asleep in his coat. He looked to his Lieutenant, who was kicking their fire out with the toe of his boot. He blinked.

"Where's Annie fuckin' Oakley?"

"High-tailin' it to Paris'd be my guess." Aldo replied without looking back at him, he turned his eyes to him with a smirk. "So you can un-clench, Hirschberg, there'll be no more stray bullets comin' your way."

"Maybe." Kagan cut in before Hirschberg had a chance to reply, carrying an empty rucksack. "But the bitch stole some of our money and ammo-"

Hirschberg eyes widened in realisation. "Shit, she took my jacket too."

"And my pistol." Donny interjected with a sigh as he joined them. "Guess Kraut weapons aren't what they're cracked up to be."

Aldo looked from his Sergeant to the rest of the men and chuckled, shaking his head. "Girl's slicker than snot on a glass door knob."

There was silence and Aldo could just about hear the cogs in his soldiers heads turning, attempting to pick apart his Southern phrase and turn it into something that made sense, with an eye roll he waved them off. "Ne'er mind 'at, no harm done. If it's any small comfort, the girl'll likely be shot to shit as soon as she steps into town."

"Sir?" Utivich started with uncertainty, figuring what he was about to say would force Aldo to blow his lid. "Where's your knife?"

Aldo followed Smithson's gaze to the belt around his own waist and the leather sheath he always wore tucked into his pants, the one that was home to his beloved Bowie-style blade. The knife in question wasn't anything spectacular, the handle was worn around the edges and the silver blade had specks of brown blood dotted on it from the countless lives it had claimed. But, to Aldo, it held sentimental value and his men were well aware of this fact. That knife had scarred a swastika into the foreheads of many Nazi's , it was, in short, his most valued possession in this war. And it had gone.

The men waited with baited breath as Aldo reflected on the disappearance of his knife before trailing his eyes back upwards with a cluck of his tongue.

"Motherfucker."


	4. Chapter 4

**Paris, France. Eighteen months later...**

Hannah set down the beer on the bar in front of her and smiled at the German soldier as she held out her palm for payment, he gave a sleazy wink and she flushed red, giggling as she turned her back to ring his payment through the till. Her smile had faded once her face was shielded from view and she could still feel his eyes roaming over her before the legs of his stool scraped across the floor and he left to join his friends.

She had been working at the bar for just over a year now, a typically French bar named 'Le chat noir' owned by a just as typically French man whose name was Antoine. The kind, older man had took pity on her when she had nearly banged his door down one night, rushing in and bolting the door behind her with trembling fingers. She had pointed her pistol, or rather Donny's pistol, straight in his face and demanded to know who he was. Thinking back, she had no idea why he took pity on her but she expected she didn't look like much of a threat by that point. She had been all skin and bones, wearing clothes way too big for her and clutching the gun like her life depended on it but not managing to hold it still.

That week after leaving the Basterds had been hell. She had planned to spend the stolen money on clothes and hair dye, not out of vanity but in the hope she would blend in. But it hadn't worked out quite as she'd hoped, Paris was swarming with German soldiers and she had 'starved, tortured Jew' stamped on her forehead, paranoia had gotten the better of her and knocking on Antoine's door that night had been a leap of faith. Hannah had prayed that behind the wood, there was charitable human being who would see the scared young girl behind the gun and help her. Her prayers were answered. She must have found the only decent man left.

She had told Antoine a lot about herself but not as much as those ten American soldiers, she would never be making that mistake again. Hannah never told him she was Jewish, for fear that he would throw her out onto the streets but he knew, he never told her so, but she knew that he did and she was amazed someone would risk themselves to keep her, a grown woman, safe. Antoine had restored her faith in humanity, it made her realise she wasn't doing enough.

She began to wipe down some of the tables, ignoring the group of Nazi men who were eyeing her appreciatively. The little French bar had become a regular haunt for Nazi's these days and Hannah hated every second of been civil to them. At this moment, life couldn't get any worse.

"Hannah!" Her eyes closed and she exhaled through her nose. Maybe it could get worse.

"Major Hellstrom," She greeted, forcing a dazzling smile as she turned. "Your usual?"

"Oui, merci." He replied with a smirk and a terrible French accent. It had been a stroke of genius on Hannah's part when she had told any Germans she met, she could speak little of their language. Claiming she was born in Germany but moved to France with her mother, Nazi's rarely took the time to speak French or English with her, it was a blessing. Of course, there were always men like Major Hellstrom who tried a little too hard to impress.

"Please, how many times have I told you to call me Dieter?" He grinned as Hannah served him his drink. For the next hour, she, as always, played to his attentions; flicking her blond hair over her shoulder and smiling sweetly, laughing heartily at each terrible joke he was a role that made her sick to her stomach, but she had learned that her looks were one of things she could use to her favour. Men, even Nazi's, were slower to be suspicious of a pretty face, especially one who flirted back.

Thankfully, Dieter hadn't tried to ask her out for a fourth time; she was beginning to run out of excuses. He had left fifteen minutes before closing time that night, Hannah shouted a goodbye to Antoine, who had been shirking his duties from the comfort of his apartment above the bar and locked the back door behind her. It was a short walk to her home, a small property owned by one of Antoine's friends and the streets were deserted at this time.

As always on her short route, Hannah couldn't shake the feeling she was been watched and on this particular night the feeling had reached an all time high. The only sound was her black heels clacking against the cobbles and it only made the silence around her all the more eerie. Tightening the belt of her trench coat tighter, she then popped the collar to cover her ears and thrust her hands into her pockets, all the while quickening her pace.

She reached the red door of her house and her shaky hands fumbled with the key in the lock, opening it with a creak and slamming it shut behind her. She bolted it quickly and let her back fall against it, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. As if remembering herself, she looked around her quiet hall before shaking her head with a small chuckle. Carelessly throwing her keys onto the side table in the hall, she kicked off her heels and padded into the lounge, flicking on the light. She turned and immediately froze upon seeing a familiar face sat casually in her armchair.

"Surprise." He grinned, the blond's eyes immediately sought out the gun he held in his left hand, aiming in her direction. He pointed it to the couch and Hannah reluctantly took a seat opposite him.

"Aldo." She whispered, more in confirmation to herself than a greeting to him.

"Well, ain't you sharp?" He quipped with sarcasm, his eyes boar straight into hers and for the first time since she'd met him, he put the fear of God into her. He was so relaxed, leaned back in her chair, his knees wide apart with his gun resting on one of them and that grin, like her been scared was amusing to him. Hannah knew this meeting with Aldo Raine was not going to be as easy to get through as the first.

"What brings you here?" Hannah attempted a smile, smoothing the skirt of her dress over her knees out of nervousness ,this only served to amuse Aldo further.

"Oh no, sister, not this time." He smiled back knowingly. "You flutter those purdy, long eyelashes all you want, ain't gonna wash with me."

Her heart sank but her cool smile didn't. Back when she'd met him and his soldiers in the forest her aim hadn't been to deceive them. She had told the truth, or a mild version of the truth and Donny had questioned her mockingly, she hadn't seen any reason to stay with them after that.

She cleared her throat and her eyes scanned the room. "Where are your men?"

"Don't worry 'bout them, I can manage you just fine wi'out their help. Now, 'fore we get down to why I'm really here I got a question to ask you." He leaned forward, his elbows rested on his knee's. Her eyes again looked down to the gun which had become closer to her with his new position and back at his smirking face.

"Go on."

"How comes a girl like you, a girl 'at claims to be a Jew and a previously entrapped Jew no less...is happy workin' in a bar filled with Nazi's? Not to mention treatin' a Gustapo Major to those doe eyes of yours."

"Have you ever heard that old saying, Lieutenant?...Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

"Yeah, I 'ave." He confirmed, wincing as he stretched his back. "But I gotta say in the circumstances, 'at phrase makes about as much sense as tits on a bull."

Hannah was about to speak when she frowned in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"It means I think your crazy. You either gotta be dumb as sand or one helluva actress to pull off been all pally with those cocksuckers. But anyhow, 'ats not why I'm here...you have somethin' that belongs to me an' I came to get it back."

Her frown stayed planted firmly on her face as he waited expectantly, the lines on her forehead smoothing out as realisation sunk in, but then it was back with new meaning.

"You risked everything for a knife?" She shrieked as she stood. Aldo swiftly pulled the hammer back on his pistol as she got to her feet but Hannah bravely chose to ignore it. She severely doubted the American Lieutenant would kill her for standing in her own home but she at least had the good sense to lower her voice. "and you say I'm the crazy one?"

"Difference is, I got nine men spread watchin' this house from every which way makin' sure my ass ain't at risk. Now, 'bout my knife...?" He grinned as he stood, his blue eyes twinkling as he regarded the scowling blonde with delight.

She sighed and turned, walking over to a mahogany cabinet in a corner of the room and rooting through one of the drawers, she pulled open a small wooden box, ensuring it was hidden from his view as she opened it. Aldo didn't need to become more smug by knowing she had kept it safe and secure in it's very own box. Begrudgingly stepping back over to him, she glared at him as she thrust the knife against his chest. He held her eye contact with a smirk and took his time lifting his hand to grab the handle of the blade. When he did, Hannah watched as he tucked it into the waistband of his pants.

"And the gun." He demanded casually, his eyes, that had been constantly crinkled at the sides with amusement had never left her face the whole time. Hannah could feel her cheeks growing hotter and redder with rage at this fact, the fact he felt could make her feel uncomfortable by staring at her. She wasn't sure if she was angry at him for assuming it would work or because it actually was.

Hannah's shoulders slumped and she again, turned her back on him. She lifted a section of her skirt and retrieved the gun from it's holster high around her thigh. She spun around to find him smirking still but with one eyebrow raised, she ignored the look and reluctantly passed it over.

"If it meant so much to you, why did you not come for it sooner?" She asked quietly, reaching down to the couch to take her seat back.

"Believe it or not, you ain't been top on my list of priorities. But we've had tabs on ya for a while and business 'appens to be slow right now, calm 'fore the storm'd be my guess."

She nodded complacently, listening to his heavy footfalls as he moved around the wooden floor of her living room until they shuffled to a stop behind her.

"G'night, Miss Wolfe."

She said nothing and his steps continued into the hall, she closed her eyes and a weird feeling in her chest prompted her to jump from her seat and run into the hall.

"Lieutenant, wait." She stopped at the hall entrance, her fingers lingering on the door frame as Aldo paused, his hand resting on the door handle. His hand fell from it's position and he faced her, placing his hands on his hips with a stomp of his heel "Major Hellstrom is a very respected man amongst the Nazi's-"

"-Good fer 'im." He cut in as she carried on regardless of his interruption.

"- he knows things that could prove useful to you. I could help your cause, Lieutenant, I know my actions have thrown this into debate but you _can_ trust me."

Aldo took two steps forward and leaned down. "Sweetheart, I don't trust you as far as I could throw Donowitz." He supplied in a low voice. "You ain't got nothin' we need."

Hannah didn't know what to say to the obvious dismissal of her help,her jaw opened and shut several times before she closed her mouth and gave a single, solemn nod. That had stung.

The only thing that consoled her was that at least the American Soldier wasn't finding any hilarity in this part of their conversation. She looked back up as he made his way back to the door, he stopped himself when he'd reached it again, looking back over his shoulder with seriousness.

"But do me a favour, don't be playin' with those krauts no more. Ain't my business what you do but take this as a warnin', you carry on leadin' men like your Major friend on? And you gonna find your skinny ass in deep with the wrong kinda people, with no one to bail you out."

"I already have no one, Lieutenant." She shrugged with a sad smile.

He exhaled through his nose and his eyes closed for a moment, like he was having an internal battle with himself.

"Yer at least got a gun?" He asked with a sigh.

Her eyes shone with surprise and a hint of suspicion but she slowly shook her head. He clicked his tongue and glanced down to the gun in his hand, the one he'd had aimed at her throughout their meeting and without warning he threw it to her. She caught it in time to stop it from falling to the floor, the impact throwing her slightly off balance before she recovered and looked back up just in time to see her front door close.

Her eyes fell back upon the pistol in her hands, she turned it over before flinging the barrel open and inspecting the chamber. It was only then she realised the extent of Aldo Raine's intellect. There were no bullets in the chamber and there never had been. There had been no mistake that Aldo had been in complete control during his visit, he was armed and he knew she wouldn't have tested him when he was pointing a supposedly loaded pistol in her direction. But, from his previous experience with her just over a year ago, he _couldn't_ have been certain she wouldn't have pulled a weapon on him. But he had been, which lead Hannah to be certain of one thing. That day in the forest, when she had been stood, her gun embedded into Aldo's spine and her other pressed to his forehead, he had humoured her.

Aldo Raine then had, as he had done a matter of moments ago, the upper hand. He had all along. The Basterds, especially Aldo, had never considered her a threat, they had never believed she was going to kill them and even if she was wrong, and they had, on some level, thought she was capable, they didn't fear her. Aldo had waltzed through the middle of Paris and broke into her house unarmed, and that either meant he was reckless or fearless and Hannah suspected the latter. Which forced her to realise with great regret, she had thrown away a potential union with what could have been a very strong ally. She had been played and tested, and when she stole from them she failed. It was slowly dawning on her that betraying Aldo's trust had been a huge mistake.


End file.
